Changes

Historians have long debated the social, economic and political roles.  Terms used by scholars include "common people", "yeomen" and "Crackers."   

Historians have long debated the social, economic and political roles.  Terms used by scholars include "common people", "yeomen" and "Crackers."   

==Republicanism==

==Republicanism==

The term favored in [[Jeffersonian Democracy]] and [[Jacksonian Democracy]] was "yeoman", which emphasized an independent political spirit and economic self-reliance. [[Thomas Jefferson]] and [[John Taylor of Caroline]] in particular praised the yeomen as the carriers of America's [[Republicanism| Republican values]]. Jefferson warned that virtue could not long survive in the cities (or among dependent tenant farmers or slaves) because these people would be controlled or corrupted by others and lose their independence.[[File:Yeoman.jpg|thumb|300px|romantic image of hard-working, prosperous, independent yeoman farmer; from 1873 Grange poster]]

The term favored in [[Jeffersonian Democracy]] and [[Jacksonian Democracy]] was "yeoman", which emphasized an independent political spirit and economic self-reliance. [[Thomas Jefferson]] and [[John Taylor of Caroline]] in particular praised the yeomen as the carriers of America's [[Republicanism|Republican values]]. Jefferson warned that virtue could not long survive in the cities (or among dependent tenant farmers or slaves) because these people would be controlled or corrupted by others and lose their independence.[[File:Yeoman.jpg|thumb|300px|romantic image of hard-working, prosperous, independent yeoman farmer; from 1873 Grange poster]]

Historian [[Richard Hofstadter]] traced the yeoman ideal in America's sentimental attachment to the rural way of life, which is 'a kind of homage that Americans have paid to the fancied innocence of their origins. To call it a 'myth' is not to imply that the idea is simply false. Rather the 'myth' so effectively embodies people's values that it profoundly influences their ways of perceiving values and hence their behavior. He stresses the significance of the writings of Jefferson and his followers in the development of agricultural fundamentalism.  Hofstadter emphasized the importance of the agrarian myth in American politics and life even after industrialization had revolutionized the American economy and life.  Indeed American farmers into the 21st century identified themselves as yeomen with a superior claim to republican values., and looked down at the "corruption" they sensed in the nation's cities.<ref> Richard Hofstadter, ''The Age of Reform'' (1955).</ref>

Historian [[Richard Hofstadter]] traced the yeoman ideal in America's sentimental attachment to the rural way of life, which is 'a kind of homage that Americans have paid to the fancied innocence of their origins. To call it a 'myth' is not to imply that the idea is simply false. Rather the 'myth' so effectively embodies people's values that it profoundly influences their ways of perceiving values and hence their behavior. He stresses the significance of the writings of Jefferson and his followers in the development of agricultural fundamentalism.  Hofstadter emphasized the importance of the agrarian myth in American politics and life even after industrialization had revolutionized the American economy and life.  Indeed American farmers into the 21st century identified themselves as yeomen with a superior claim to republican values., and looked down at the "corruption" they sensed in the nation's cities.<ref>Richard Hofstadter, ''The Age of Reform'' (1955).</ref>

==South==

==South==

The major challenge to the negative view came from historian [[Frank Lawrence Owsley]] in ''Plain Folk of the Old South'' (1949). His book and followup studies ignited a long historiographical debate. Owsley started with the writings of [[Daniel R. Hundley]] who in 1860 had defined the southern middle class as "farmers, planters, traders, storekeepers, artisans, mechanics, a few manufacturers, a goodly number of country school teachers, and a host of half-fledged country lawyers, doctors, parsons, and the like."  To find these people Owsley turned to the name-by-name files on the manuscript federal census.  Owsley's ''Plain Folk of the Old South,'' says Vernon Burton, is, ''one of the most influential works on southern history ever written.''  Using their own newly invented codes they turned into data bases the manuscript federal census returns, tax and trial records, and local government documents and wills. ''Plain Folk'' argued that southern society was not dominated by planter aristocrats, but that yeoman farmers played a significant role in it. The religion, language, and culture of these common people created a democratic "plain folk" society. Critics say he overemphasized the size of the southern landholding middle class while excluding the large class of poor landless and slaveless white southerners.<ref>Hyde (2005)</ref> Owsley assumed that shared economic interests united southern farmers without considering the vast difference inherent in the planters' commercial agriculture versus the yeomen's subsistence life style.

The major challenge to the negative view came from historian [[Frank Lawrence Owsley]] in ''Plain Folk of the Old South'' (1949). His book and followup studies ignited a long historiographical debate. Owsley started with the writings of [[Daniel R. Hundley]] who in 1860 had defined the southern middle class as "farmers, planters, traders, storekeepers, artisans, mechanics, a few manufacturers, a goodly number of country school teachers, and a host of half-fledged country lawyers, doctors, parsons, and the like."  To find these people Owsley turned to the name-by-name files on the manuscript federal census.  Owsley's ''Plain Folk of the Old South,'' says Vernon Burton, is, ''one of the most influential works on southern history ever written.''  Using their own newly invented codes they turned into data bases the manuscript federal census returns, tax and trial records, and local government documents and wills. ''Plain Folk'' argued that southern society was not dominated by planter aristocrats, but that yeoman farmers played a significant role in it. The religion, language, and culture of these common people created a democratic "plain folk" society. Critics say he overemphasized the size of the southern landholding middle class while excluding the large class of poor landless and slaveless white southerners.<ref>Hyde (2005)</ref> Owsley assumed that shared economic interests united southern farmers without considering the vast difference inherent in the planters' commercial agriculture versus the yeomen's subsistence life style.

In his study of Edgefield County, South Carolina, Orville Vernon Burton<ref> Burton (1985)</ref> classified white society into the poor, the yeoman middle class, and the elite. A clear line demarcated the elite, but according to Burton, the line between poor and yeoman was never very distinct. Stephanie McCurry argues, yeomen were clearly distinguished from poor whites by their ownership of land (real property). Yeomen were "self-working farmers," distinct from the elite because they worked their land themselves alongside any slaves they owned. Ownership of large numbers of slaves made the work of planters completely managerial.

In his study of Edgefield County, South Carolina, Orville Vernon Burton<ref>Burton (1985)</ref> classified white society into the poor, the yeoman middle class, and the elite. A clear line demarcated the elite, but according to Burton, the line between poor and yeoman was never very distinct. Stephanie McCurry argues, yeomen were clearly distinguished from poor whites by their ownership of land (real property). Yeomen were "self-working farmers," distinct from the elite because they worked their land themselves alongside any slaves they owned. Ownership of large numbers of slaves made the work of planters completely managerial.

==From yeoman to redneck==

==From yeoman to redneck==

After the Civil War the status of the yeomen fell drastically. Many became sharecroppers or tenants--they worked land owned by landowners in town. In the towns the rising southern middle class rejected the celebration of rural life associated with the yeoman.  They denounced as "demagogues" the radical leaders who appealed to the poor farmers, for example [[Ben Tillman|"Pitchfork Ben Tillman]] who was governor and senator from South Carolina.  As the poor farmers endorsed lynching of uppity blacks, the middle class townsfolk denounced lynching in the name of [[Law and order]].  Some poor farmers moved to mill towns, especially to work in the textile mills of the Carolinas. The money was much better than on the hard-scrabble farms, but this again represented a fall in social status.  By the end of the century the middle class was ridiculing the former yeomen as "rednecks" and "hillbillies."<ref>"Redneck" refers to being sun-burned from worked in the hot fields. "Hillbillies" lived in remote mountain areas.  Stephen A. West, ''From Yeoman to Redneck in the South Carolina Upcountry, 1850–1915.'' (2008)</ref>

After the Civil War the status of the yeomen fell drastically. Many became sharecroppers or tenants—they worked land owned by landowners in town. In the towns the rising southern middle class rejected the celebration of rural life associated with the yeoman.  They denounced as "demagogues" the radical leaders who appealed to the poor farmers, for example [[Ben Tillman|"Pitchfork Ben Tillman]] who was governor and senator from South Carolina.  As the poor farmers endorsed lynching of uppity blacks, the middle class townsfolk denounced lynching in the name of [[Law and order]].  Some poor farmers moved to mill towns, especially to work in the textile mills of the Carolinas. The money was much better than on the hard-scrabble farms, but this again represented a fall in social status.  By the end of the century the middle class was ridiculing the former yeomen as "rednecks" and "hillbillies."<ref>"Redneck" refers to being sun-burned from worked in the hot fields. "Hillbillies" lived in remote mountain areas.  Stephen A. West, ''From Yeoman to Redneck in the South Carolina Upcountry, 1850–1915.'' (2008)</ref>

==Self image of farmers==

==Self image of farmers==

When [[Harry Truman]]'s Secretary of Agriculture [[Charles Brannan]] in 1949 proposed a plan of direct assistance to small farmers, he justified it by reasserting the importance of the small family farmer as the foundation of American democracy. However in the Grange small farmers opposed the plan because it too closely resembled welfare and would undermine their self image as independent yeomen and successful entrepreneurs. Agribusiness used the same images to oppose it for its own reasons. Brannan sought to protect the small farmer against competition from the large companies, but the plan was not accepted by Congress because farmers self-image would not allow for welfare.<ref> Karen J. Bradley, "Agrarian Ideology and Agricultural Policy: California Grangers and the Post-world War II Farm Policy Debate," ''Agricultural History'' 1995 69(2): 240-256, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3744267  in JSTOR]</ref>  

When [[Harry Truman]]'s Secretary of Agriculture [[Charles Brannan]] in 1949 proposed a plan of direct assistance to small farmers, he justified it by reasserting the importance of the small family farmer as the foundation of American democracy. However in the Grange small farmers opposed the plan because it too closely resembled welfare and would undermine their self image as independent yeomen and successful entrepreneurs. Agribusiness used the same images to oppose it for its own reasons. Brannan sought to protect the small farmer against competition from the large companies, but the plan was not accepted by Congress because farmers self-image would not allow for welfare.<ref>Karen J. Bradley, "Agrarian Ideology and Agricultural Policy: California Grangers and the Post-world War II Farm Policy Debate," ''Agricultural History'' 1995 69(2): 240-256, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3744267  in JSTOR]</ref>  

==See also==

==See also==

* [[The South]]

* [[The South]]

* Ash, Stephen V. "Poor Whites in the Occupied South, 1861-1865," ''Journal of Southern History,'' 57 (February 1991), [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-4642(199102)57%3A1%3C39%3APWITOS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-8 in JSTOR]

* Ash, Stephen V. "Poor Whites in the Occupied South, 1861-1865," ''Journal of Southern History,'' 57 (February 1991), [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-4642(199102)57%3A1%3C39%3APWITOS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-8 in JSTOR]

* Bolton, Charles C. "Planters, Plain Folk, and Poor Whites in the Old South," in ''A Companion to the Civil War and Reconstruction,'' ed. Lacy Ford (2005), 75–94.  

* Bolton, Charles C. "Planters, Plain Folk, and Poor Whites in the Old South," in ''A Companion to the Civil War and Reconstruction,'' ed. Lacy Ford (2005), 75–94.  

* Bonner, James C. "Profile of a Late Ante-Bellum Community," ''American Historical Review,'' Vol. 49, No. 4 (Jul., 1944), pp. 663-680 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1850221 in JSTOR]

* Bonner, James C. "Profile of a Late Ante-Bellum Community," ''American Historical Review,'' Vol. 49, No. 4 (Jul., 1944), pp.&nbsp;663–680 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1850221 in JSTOR]

* Bruce Jr., Dickson D. ''And They All Sang Hallelujah: Plain Folk Camp Meeting Religion, 1800-1845'' (1974)

* Bruce Jr., Dickson D. ''And They All Sang Hallelujah: Plain Folk Camp Meeting Religion, 1800-1845'' (1974)

* Burton, Orville Vernon. ''In My Father's House Are Many Mansions: Family and Community in Edgefield, South Carolina'' (1985) [http://www.questia.com/library/book/in-my-fathers-house-are-many-mansions-family-and-community-in-edgefield-south-carolina-by-orville-vernon-burton.jsp online version]

* Burton, Orville Vernon. ''In My Father's House Are Many Mansions: Family and Community in Edgefield, South Carolina'' (1985) [http://www.questia.com/library/book/in-my-fathers-house-are-many-mansions-family-and-community-in-edgefield-south-carolina-by-orville-vernon-burton.jsp online version]

* Campbell, Randolph B. "Planters and Plain Folks: The Social Structure of the Antebellum South," in John B. Boles and Evelyn Thomas Nolen, eds., ''Interpreting Southern History''(1987), 48-77;  

* Campbell, Randolph B. "Planters and Plain Folks: The Social Structure of the Antebellum South," in John B. Boles and Evelyn Thomas Nolen, eds., ''Interpreting Southern History''(1987), 48-77;  

* Carey, Anthony Gene. "Frank L. Owsley's Plain Folk of the Old South after Fifty Years," in Glenn Feldman, ed., ''Reading Southern History: Essays on Interpreters and Interpretations'' (2001)

* Carey, Anthony Gene. "Frank L. Owsley's Plain Folk of the Old South after Fifty Years," in Glenn Feldman, ed., ''Reading Southern History: Essays on Interpreters and Interpretations'' (2001)

* Cash, Wilbur J. ''The Mind of the South'' (1941), an old classic[http://www.amazon.com/Mind-South-W-J-Cash/dp/0679736476/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208760918&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]

* Cash, Wilbur J. ''The Mind of the South'' (1941), an old classic [http://www.amazon.com/Mind-South-W-J-Cash/dp/0679736476/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208760918&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]

* Flynt, J. Wayne ''Dixie's Forgotten People: The South's Poor Whites'' (1979). deals with 20th century.  

* Flynt, J. Wayne ''Dixie's Forgotten People: The South's Poor Whites'' (1979). deals with 20th century.  

* Cecil-Fronsman, Bill. ''Common Whites: Class and Culture in Antebellum North Carolina'' (1992)

* Cecil-Fronsman, Bill. ''Common Whites: Class and Culture in Antebellum North Carolina'' (1992)

[[Category:The South]]

[[Category:The South]]

[[Category:Republicanism]]

[[Category:Republicanism]]

[[category:Agriculture]]

[[Category:Agriculture]]

[[category:Farmers]]

[[Category:Farmers]]